In their book, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard” authors Chip and Dan Heath examine how influencing humans to change requires appealing to two parts of the brain: the rational and the emotional. Since the emotional part of our brain often gets frustrated when asked to make huge changes, Chip and Dan recommend that we “shrink the change” to change behavior in the face of resistance.

The Heaths cite financial guru Dave Ramsey’s “Debt Snowball” strategy as an effective example of shrinking the change. For people mired in a mountain of debt, this strategy advocates paying off their smallest debts first – regardless of interest rates. Although this flies in the face of conventional financial wisdom, it is a lot easier for people to remain focused by paying off a $200 debt than it is to pay off $200 of a $20k debt. It’s easier for our brains to process manageable changes, and when we feel like change is manageable, we’re more likely to implement it.